Thursday, June 3, 2010

Sun Scorched

The Phoenix Metro area forecasters have issued a heat warning for the next five days. The temperatures are expected to hover around 110 degrees. It's not unusual for us to hit temps that high, but it is a little early. I'm going on my third summer here and I still cringe at the thought of all that time me and my kids will be forced to stay indoors the next few months. Desert living is great November through April. May through September....let's just say my husband is a lucky duck as he does the majority of his business travel during those months.

The kids and I beat the heat with the pool, the library, and play dates with other mom's whose kids are trapped inside. We'll be okay. But this summer brings a whole new pile of worries for me. The garden especially. When most of the country is planting and watching things grow, my plants will be scorching and struggling. I admit I'm being a bit selfish. We get to plant in October and again in February when others couldn't grow a head of lettuce if they wanted to. But I'm not ready to say goodbye yet. Our tomatoes are doing so well and are so tasty. Our eggplants are numerous, our watermelons just flowering. The heat won't flat out kill everything but I'm thinking it will slow it down and limit production quite a bit.

We need shade. Hubby was planning to construct some short of shading apparatus consisting of four PVC pipes in each corner of the bed with a shade cloth attached to the top. We drew up plans but got distracted with finishing up our automatic irrigation system. We figured that water was more important than shade and the ability to do it automatically is a plus in case I want to escape up to the mountains to visit my parents and retreat from this baking desert. Hubby has worked very hard digging trenches in our concrete like soil and has set up our watering system in zones so that our fruit trees can be watered separately from the garden. It goes off like clockwork, twice a day. We still need to spot water but it will be a great help this summer.

Irrigation pipe going both East and West. Notice sheets on the line :)

The shade will have to wait. Hubby will soon be away more than he is home and the garden will be entirely my responsibility. What a challenge. Do you think he'll be mad if the sun kills everything while he's away? Lots of water and a little luck and we might just be okay. Pray for my plants!